Education
M.P.A., Harvard University
J.D., University of Iowa
B.A., University of Iowa

Robert M. Andersen is a member with Clark Hill’s Washington, DC Office and heads the Firm’s Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Practice Group. Rob has 35 years of legal experience advising private and public sector clients, as well as representing them before federal court, on a wide-range of environmental, energy, and natural resources issues. Since re-entering private practice in 2004, Rob has handled cases arising under the Clean Water Act (CWA), Superfund (CERCLA), toxic and hazardous materials statutes, the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act, and the nation’s energy laws.

Rob currently assists clients with complex environmental remediations and with the siting and construction of projects requiring permits, licenses, funding, or contracts from such agencies as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Department of Interior (DOI). His recent work includes representation of Nye County, Nevada, in the NRC licensing proceedings for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository; conducting environmental due diligence for the successful merger of Republic Services and Allied Waste; assisting oil and gas companies in obtaining the necessary federal permits and clearances to construct or operate facilities in compliance with energy and environmental laws; and providing litigation support for toxic tort actions and environmental cleanups conducted pursuant to RCRA, CERCLA, and nuclear waste statutes.

Rob previously served for 25 years in senior environmental positions with the federal government, most recently as the Chief Counsel of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where he directed legal services for more than 400 attorneys worldwide. He advised the Command on civil works projects built on our nation’s waterway. He also provided counsel regarding military base operations around the world, including nearly nine billion dollars in construction and procurement actions a year. He served as a legal advisor to Corps first responders in New York and at the Pentagon following the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Rob’s experience with the federal government dates to 1980 with EPA, where he pioneered Clean Water Act and toxic substance enforcement at Region V in Chicago, ultimately becoming a Deputy Regional Counsel in 1984. While Deputy General Counsel to the National Science Foundation from 1986 to 1990, he briefly served as the Senior United States Representative in Antarctica and was credited by Presidents Bush and Clinton with preserving United States science and engineering research opportunities on the Continent after environmental groups attempted to halt U.S. operations. Rob developed pollution control measures including an oil spill prevention plan, a cradle-to-grave waste management program, and a natural resources preservation plan for Antarctica that were approved by NSF and the President, funded by Congress, and implemented on the ice. As the first General Counsel of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board from 1990 to 1998, he investigated environmental and safety problems at DOE’s defense nuclear complex. He was instrumental in the nuclear decontamination and decommissioning of DOE’s Rocky Flats nuclear plant, and the opening of the Waste Isolation Pilot Project. Rob was twice named a Special Assistant to the United States Attorney General to independently litigate cases involving both environmental and national security issues.

A former member of the Advisory Council to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Rob has been an adjunct professor at George Washington University since 1994, and regularly teaches graduate level courses including Engineering Law; Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Policy; Hazardous Waste Management, and Nuclear Waste Management. He is a published author, and his most recent book provides guidance to those wishing to obtain funding, licenses, and permits for offshore research and renewable energy projects. Rob received his undergraduate degree in general science from the University of Iowa, where he also received his Juris Doctorate Degree with high distinction in 1976. He received an MPA from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he studied environmental and natural resources policy as a Lucius Littauer Fellow in 1985-86. An outdoorsman, he has visited every National Park in the United States and climbed mountains on five continents.

Other Representative Work

• Successfully argued and defended a tri-modal transportation park project against environmental challenges in the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in Karst Environmental Education and Protection, Inc. v. EPA et al (January 30, 2007)
• On behalf of offshore wind energy companies, commented on Mineral Management Services proposed regulations of offshore facilities and obtained critical changes streamlining the process; subsequently assisted the companies in obtaining New Jersey approval for offshore wind power project
• Secured FERC/Corps approvals for private hydropower plants, and license transfers for nuclear power plants and waste facilities from NRC
• Identified critical expert witnesses and prepared them for trials which resulted in favorable decisions for clients in toxic tort actions
• Obtained favorable settlements in compliance actions brought by NRC, DOE, and EPA against manufacturing and engineering clients
• Litigated the first case filed under EPA’s emergency response authority in the Toxic Substances Control Act, United States v. Illada Energy Company
• While at EPA, Region V, supervised the legal review that resulted in initial delegation of Superfund and RCRA to the states for implementation
• Participated personally and substantially in the environmental restoration of the Everglades and the Louisiana coast

Selected Publications
Robert M. Andersen & Markian M.W. Melnyk, OFFSHORE POWER: BUILDING RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS IN U.S. WATERS (PennWell 2009)

Donald G. Gavin & Robert M. Andersen, Nuclear Power Projects (International Bar Association 2009)

PROTECTING THE WATER SECTOR FROM SECURITY THREATS: THE EMERGING LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS (National Association of Clean Water Agencies et al, publishers 2007)

Robert M. Andersen & Paul Freeman, Stemming the Tide of Terrorism, Water and Wastewater Products (Jan. 2005)

Robert M. Andersen, Leading International Efforts to Improve Environmental Controls in Antarctica While Navigating National Politics, 2 Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 303-351 (Volume VI, 1994)

Robert M. Andersen, Chapter 11 --Government Searches and Private Inspections, in ENVIRONMENTAL LAW PRACTICE GUIDE (Matthew Bender & Co., August 1992)

Robert M. Andersen & Lawrence Rudolph, On Solid International Ground in Antarctica: A U.S. Strategy for Regulating Environmental Impact on the Continent, 26 Stanford Journal of International Law 931-51(1990)

Robert M. Andersen, A National Science Foundation Strategy for Compliance with Environmental Law in Antarctica (NSF Publication No. 90-4, Dec. 29, 1989)

Robert M. Andersen, Technology, Pollution Control, and EPA Access to Commercial Property: A Constitutional and Policy Framework, 17 Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review 1-75 (1989)

Robert M. Andersen, Select Legal Provisions Regulating Scientific Misconduct in Federally Supported Research Programs, in PROJECT ON SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT: REPORT ON WORKSHOP NUMBER THREE (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1989)

Robert M. Andersen, The Federal Government’s Role in Regulating Misconduct in Scientific and Technological Research, 3 Georgetown Journal of Law & Technology 121-48 (1988), reprinted in Hearings on Maintaining the Integrity of Scientific Research before the Subcommittee Investigations and Oversight of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 101st Cong., 1st Sess. at 826-84 (June 28, 1989, U.S. Government Printing Office)

Robert M. Andersen, The Past as Both Barrier and Stimulus to Creative Decision-Making in A SHARING OF EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE, Volume V (American Society of Association Executives, 1987)

Robert M. Andersen, Freedom of Speech as an Adjunct to the Free Exercise of Religion, in GOD’S THINGS AND CAESAR’S: A REVIEW OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT RELIGION CLAUSES (Thomas More Society, 1979)

Note, Federal Genesis for Comprehensive Protection of Student Educational Record Rights: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 61 Iowa Law Review 74-127 (1975)